Her family gathered Monday night to mourn the 24-year-old employee of Oikos University.

As he watched the Cartoon Network on television, Ping's son, Kayzzer, didn't understand what had happened. And no one around him seemed to know what to do about that.

"He doesn't know," said his anguished grandfather, Liberty Ping, as the little boy ducked behind the couch to hide and then scampered across the room on all fours. "He keeps asking everyone why they're crying."

In the next room, Kaine Ping wept as he looked at photos of his sister on a desktop computer.

"It's hard to accept," said Liberty Ping. "I could accept it maybe if she was (killed while) out driving or walking. But she was in the best place, the safest place - a school."

Liberty Ping came to the United States 15 years ago from the Philippines and petitioned for his family to join him. In March 2007, Katleen arrived along with her mother, brother and two younger sisters.

She continued the nursing classes she had begun in her homeland, her family said, taking classes at Heald College in San Francisco, at the College of Alameda and online.

Through a friend, she landed an administrative job at Oikos about eight months ago, becoming her extended family's biggest breadwinner.

Katleen's husband - Kayzzer's father - is still in the Philippines, awaiting his own petition to come to the United States. For now, the family said, it's not known when he will be able to see his son, nor is it clear what their future holds.

Katleen's family described a nightmarish day of not knowing whether their loved one was dead or alive following the shooting at Oikos. They had not received a call from Katleen, so they went to the scene Monday looking for information, standing for hours along a line of police tape.

Finally, officers summoned them across the line to break the terrible news.

"She's my best friend," Kaine Ping. "We were four years apart in age, so we grew up together. As a brother, I can tell you both the positive and the negative. But she was the best."

Donations

An account has been set up for donations to cover funeral expenses and other items: The Katleen Ping Memorial Fund at Wells Fargo. For more information, call (510) 483-4440.